Ferrari trying to take over ferrari club

Don't know about later on but through the 1970s ownership was not required to be a member. To be president it was required but there is a fine example of someone that was loaned an Ed Niles car so he could claim ownership; the Queener exception.

 

I agree.

But to be fair, not all Dealership want to or have time to work through the political BS between them and the local club.

It's threads like this one that make it really difficult.

Make no mistake, Ferrari is well aware of what is being said here as well as in the multiple other current threads, blaming them for this and blasting them for that. Things that they were not involved in yet so many are willing to baselessly believe whatever a scorned well respected member may say, imply, or present as rumor. All of which take on a life of their own and quickly spiral out of control.

If a Dealership and Club do not get along or have a relationship, you can bet that BOTH sides have done something to the other that could be worked out if BOTH sides were to work together. But some Dealerships don't see the benefit and some Clubs would rather just bash the dealership, hence where we are now.

Its a chicken or the egg situation.

The Dealership wants ROI The club wants access / validation

Who is going to extend the olive branch first?

In my case, Shawn R ( New president in 2012 ) and I both came to the table and talked it out, the rest is history.

Funny antidote, all I asked of Shawn in the beginning were 2 things:

1. When members asked him where to go for Service, simply include me as an options, behind Norwood and a couple others
2. Talk to me directly whenever a member had a problem with the Dealership or was saying something negitive.

It worked..


Steve

 

Steve,

If there was a break of the FCA and FNA/SpA would that change how your store views and what they would do with the DFW Chapter?

I would think that those dealerships that already have good relationship would continue it as it makes good business sense. I believe that the local chapter does generally represent a lot of "low hanging fruit" for a dealership.

 

Steve,

You are to be highly commended for all that you do and have done or the Boardwalk/DFW Chapter relationship. You are one the prime examples of what that relationship can be. I hope that my Chapter can achieve the same with Rosso Cavallino St. Louis - both sides are working hard to make it a reality.

 

the party that created the confusion should extend the olive branch. otherwise they are just being prideful.

 

Why would I ever stop taking care of clients?

With that said, if a FCA member "breaks away " how would you expect one to continue to offer access to the items I listed above to members who are no longer FCA members?

S

 

Don't think it a fair question to expect an answer in public. I will say the dealers who had and maintained a good relationship did it with or without Ferrari genuflecting over it. When in the Ferrari dealership arena I never really mentioned involvement with the club. Or at least not often. I was at more than one who had a terrible attitude towards them. I was at one where an FCA event was planned for the weekend and we were specifically told by management to lock everything not bolted down away or it would be stolen. The factory dealer management told the Ferrari club they were not welcome because the members wives would just wipe their big fake tits all over the cars. Another in the same area had a wide open arm attitude to exactly the same people. Its a case by case basis no matter the official policy just like everything else.

 

Don't you think that BOTH sides have to put being prideful to the side and come to the table with equal enthusiasm.

S

 

From my limited experience with the FCA in Houston, there appears to be a push/pull even inside a local chapter. Some members are car guys and that all they care about. Others wanted to trip the light fantastic. And then, there was an inside circle of "Friends of Risi" who never showed up at FCA meets. To me, it seemed like herding cats, but I did enjoy the drives and track days.

 

With new ownership, I wonder ( hope ) that things will change for the better between the two parties.

S

 

but you asked “ who is going to extend the olive branch FIRST”.

 

Surprise surprise, someone is mad at a car dealership. Seriously though I do hope new owners are good. I had a very curious experience with them years ago. I needed a part, an expensive part with next to no demand and it was NLA from Ferrari. Houston had 7 on the shelf. I called the parts guy and told him I was there to help him out with expensive dead, obsolete inventory. Gave him the number and asked how much. I would have had a fire sale. I would have had a one cent sale to get that crap out of inventory. Whats he do? Quoted me double retail. I did not lighten his load that day.
I bet they are still on the shelf.

 

Beats me. As you know, Risi was old school. The new owner is a billionaire. Most billionaires insist on a decent ROI on their investments. This could be a good thing. It could be a bad thing.

One story illustrates how things used to be. Remember when FNA blew the Maserati roll out? The cars were overpriced by at least $20,000. Story I heard was one day a trailer shows up at FOH. They got some surprise inventory they weren't expecting.

 

I liked Risi and the rest of the crew, although I certainly was nowhere near insider status. Although, there was a service manager who had me wondering what the time was for justifiable manslaughter.

 

They used to do things that way. What was more common was if you wanted a 360 Spider out of allocation you could get one in the same truck load as a 456. Because you see Ferrari was playing the same game with FNA.

 

Someone has to make the move and not be sitting on their hands waiting on the other. Use an emissary first, if necessary.

I do remember Al DeLauro, then national president, talking about how he had lunch with Risi himself to try repairing the relationship some years back.

 

Ferrari of Houston has a fantastic relationship with Kansas City.

The Wisconsin people talk glowingly of their relationship with Ferrari of Lake Forest.

Chicago loves Continental AutoSports.

 

And, why is that?

in your opinion.

 

There is no question some local club leaders can be a pain in the ass. Its not at all one sided. No 2 dealers have the same outlook any more than all the chapters and regions are reasonable.

 

In at least one of those cases it is a good store. Having been in this business I have come to learn that there is some percentage that either love you or hate you even though you treat all the same. And both groups are happy to talk about it.

 

Mr. Maranello. You make it sound like you are remarkably well informed, but a number of the comments in your posts are clearly obtained from "conversations" as opposed to actually seeing the documents, or ever having actually attended a FOC President's meeting. A couple of examples.

As a current exec member of the FOCNZ, I've got a copy and NOWHERE does it state that the local importer/dealer will have anything to do with the Clubs. Section 8 of the proposed Agreement is very clear in its definition of the Ferrari Representative.

With regard to the Presidents meetings. They are NOT funded by Ferrari. Individuals, or their Clubs if they have funds, need to pay to get you there. Ferrari do cover a couple of nights (one room only) accommodation and a couple of meals, but it is by no means a paid boon-doggle. From anywhere outside Europe, the airfares are substantially more than the room and a couple of meals. I've attended a number of these (since early 2000s) and have always found Ferrari willing to listen - they may only act on a small number of initiatives, but as a result of feedback from these meetings a number of initiatives have definitely been canned.

I think we've all got numerous reasons to be concerned about the proposed Agreement and its potential impacts. That is why Clubs representing 84% of the current "authorised" membership are not signing. But, in any commentary, can we please stick to the facts instead of interpretations being stated as facts.

 

Here is the bigger problem. Ferrari, whether is it SpA or FNA doesn't understand they are not Ferrari. Yes, they own the copywrites. Yes, they make the cars. But, they do not control the Ferrari community. Where were they during 1965 to 1985 when no one gave a damn about these cars? I get it. Ferrari is a public company. That is a game changer. But, they need to understand Ferrari is bigger than they are.

 

Very true Bryan.
I joined the FCA (QLD Edition) in Australia in 2012, shortly after buying my 1st 360 Modena. Good fun, nice people, nicer cars and there was an air of confidence and fun. After a few years, they started squeezing out those with the 'older' cars and were happy to bring in the new members, with the new cars, and the new money, and the new 7 year warranties and if you didn't take your car to a dealer for services, you were frowned upon at events and meetings.

Club president's started lauding the richer members, allowing them to pay for events which strangely included the local dealer and a few of their newer cars.

It was embarrassing and a shame. So I left the club.

 

I can’t speak for others, but as a second generation on again/off again FCA member, here’s my take on Continental and LFSC. John Weinberger (RIP) was a genuine car guy from minis to Ferraris and everything in between. Rick Mancuso is also a car guy. More importantly, both of them are genuinely nice people. John once saw a guy in a 356 (iirc) stuck by the side of the road. He pulled over, took out his tool kit and proceeded to get the car running so the guy could limp it to a rest stop. John’s son Joel, is carrying on the family tradition and attends events. Rick rarely forgets a name and pre-Covid had an open door policy for letting people wander the dealership. Around the time Joe Marchetti died, Continental offered their dealership to host the annual spring swap meet. Pre-Covid, LFSC held an annual open house/picnic at the end of the summer, that sometimes drove the neighbors nuts, but was a heck of a bash. Long story short, both dealerships make it a point to welcome FCA members and non-members alike.

 

I think in my view the critical thing is for clubs to remain independent and to be run independently as members see fit based on the guidelines contained in the constitution of he club in question. Is it important for the Ferrari to have a relationship with the clubs, in my view yes it is, clubs should where possibly encourage members to support Ferrari dealers. I always think the dealer is the gateway into the Ferrari experience for new car buyers so its important to in some way of form to promote the Ferrari club present in that country and yes I get it Ferrari would like clubs to uphold certain standards but I do believe most Ferrari clubs by their nature put on premium events and market themselves as being premium which aligns quite nicely with the Ferrari corporate view.